Earth Invasion

Chapter 432 The Difficult Pursuit
With the restraint arm firmly grasping the hull of the single-seater combat boat, the penultimate return single-seater combat boat on the cruiser Charles Dickens of the Space Circle Fleet has been recovered.The driver's separate cockpit popped out of it, and was grabbed by the autonomous robot next to it and sent to the modulation tank next to it.After evacuating the inert gas inside, the driver floated out wearing a hydraulic anti-g suit.And in another landing area next to it, the last single-seater combat boat flew in through the narrow landing port under the command of the guiding beam, and then turned off the propulsion array.The two restraint arms repeated the same action as before.The difference is that several people wearing Red Cross space suits are pushing a huge capsule-shaped treatment cabin and waiting beside it. On the single-seater combat boat, there are a large area of ​​melting marks.

The pilot who had just come out of the cockpit did not leave, but flew along the side armrest to the control room above his head.Several staff members are directing the robots outside to decontaminate the entire single-seater combat boat.

"Sean, can you turn on the oxygen in this room, I'm about to be strangled by this goddamn anti-G suit!" the pilot said through his speaker, there is no oxygen in the room, but nitrogen and helium The mixed flame retardant shielding gas can be used to transmit sound.

"We are now at war, and it is a wartime rule to fill in protective gas. I don't want to be locked in a confinement room in a space suit. Then I will go crazy." The aircraft recovery control officer named Sean still stared at the On the screen, the mouth was not idle, "George, what happened to that guy Sam? How could the battleship be hit by someone?"

"As long as you are still on the battlefield, you will be hit by someone one day." The pilot named George said something very philosophical casually, "He was overloaded by the charged particle cannon of the opponent's battleship, and was shot by someone." Covered up with a plasma cannon. Just burn off the extra armor on the outside, and you'll be fine. Look, he's out."

Looking from the control room, the cockpit that popped out was intact, and the pilot who climbed out of it seemed to be in good health.He was breaking free from the military doctors in spacesuits, stepped on an autonomous robot, caught the reaction force and floated towards the control room.

"Hey, Sam, do you seem to be okay? You look very energetic." George flew over with a smile, and patted his teammate with a livid face.

"No, I'm not fine at all. I'm going to apply to go to the back combat pre-ship ship to relax. I can't bear to sleep in a spacesuit every day." The man named Sam was obviously in a bad mood.If it weren't for the fact that there is no oxygen on the entire battleship, I'm afraid he is already smashing his helmet.

"It's really unfortunate." The control officer named Xiao En didn't intend to let him go at all, "Even if you apply, it won't help, because since the torpedo attack 30 hours ago, even the rear combat plan The ship has already entered the first-level combat readiness state, and it is full of helium."

"God! That's the worst news I've ever heard!" Sam broke down.

This grumbling and similar conversations are not an accidental phenomenon.There are conversations like this all over the grand fleet of space circles.An atmosphere of irritability and depression is permeating the large fleet in the space circle.

Regarding this situation, Rear Admiral Uhtred Nakajima, who is in charge of the daily operations of the entire fleet, is very clear and anxious.But there was nothing he could do.He tried yesterday to propose that the entire fleet be on duty with oxygen inflated in turn, but was mercilessly rejected by the commander-in-chief, General Collintz.

The reason is also very simple. This is a standard procedure for wearing a spacesuit according to the combat regulations during battle, and it is not allowed to be changed without reason.

Regarding the old man's behavior, Major General Nakajima also has troubles.Looking at the old guy who has been wearing a space suit since the moment the addition started and is still looking good, he couldn't help but feel his scalp tingle.

Alas~ Your Excellency General, if you can persevere, your soldiers will certainly be able to persevere.

However, this state of the large fleet in the space circle is helpless, because space pursuit battles have always been a long and very difficult job.

Ten days have passed since the NATO expeditionary fleet left the moon orbit of the Assyrian planet!In that 240-hour period, it has been fully engaged for more than a week.During this period of more than a week, everyone was not allowed to take off their space suits, and there was no way to take a shower, and the entire battleship was full of helium.Everyone in every position must be in a state of mental tension all the time.Because they have to fight, they can't lose each other, and they even have to find ways to intercept each other.

The speed gap caused by the planetary gravitational slingshot is not so easy to chase.Even if the large fleet in the space circle began to use the gravitational slingshot of the Assyrian planet to accelerate, this was only to ease the speed gap between the two sides.These days, the engines of the large fleet in the space circle are almost always at full power, in order to catch up with each other as much as possible.

Perhaps it was due to the working fluid. After ten days of continuous pursuit, the straight-line distance between the two sides has now been reduced to less than 3 kilometers.However, this distance is still not the distance that can use heavy weapons.The warships in the space circle are only trying to attack with more powerful laser cannons and plasma cannons.Because only these weapons with the speed of light or close to the speed of light can accurately hit.For other weapons, the heavy particle cannon takes more than 10 seconds from charging to hitting. It is impossible to hit a warship that is calculated in kilometers per second in space.Not to mention plasma torpedoes and electromagnetic reconnection guns.

And these speed of light weapons are not very useful.With such a long distance, the focus of the laser is a problem. The laser is not without an opening angle. Thirty thousand kilometers is enough to turn the laser beam that could melt the opponent's shell into a large searchlight.Although the plasma cannon is more suitable in terms of speed and energy, it also faces the problem of plasma expansion and the turbulent electric field caused by the long-term use of plasma thrusters behind the opponent's warship.In many cases, the plasma cluster that has expanded to a certain extent will be directly decomposed or torn into a large ball of cotton by repulsion and electromagnetic attraction.

The one that can pose a threat, or that can entangle the opponent, is the single-seat combat boat carried on each battleship.

Since the distance between the two sides has been shortened to this distance, General Collins has put the use of single-seater combat boats to attack each other on the agenda.The single-seat combat boat that is thrown directly by the electromagnetic catapult has an external chemical fuel rocket. Under the additional initial speed provided by the electromagnetic catapult and booster rocket of the battleship, the plasma propulsion can be operated at a power that can be burned , You can make the opponent's warship and yourself reach a speed difference of more than minus 20 kilometers per second, that is, you can catch up with the opponent within half an hour, and then launch an attack!

Whether it's an electromagnetic gun, a heavy particle gun, or even a plasma torpedo.As long as the distance is close, they are dangerous weapons, especially the weapons of all warships are almost arranged in the front hemisphere, and the charged particle cannons and laser close-in defenses in the rear hemisphere are used against full-body armor with a total weight of more than 220 tons. A battleship is not much of a threat.

And when the two sides are fighting to accelerate, no battleship dares to make an axial U-turn.This means that you plan to fall behind, and if you don't accelerate, you will be pulled into the distance enough to use heavy weapons by other people's large fleet in a short period of time.

Facing the aggressive offensive of the large fleet in the space circle, Ratcliffe of the NATO expeditionary fleet can only send out single-seat combat boats and UFPs for defense.

The effect of this passive defense can be imagined.

For fear of falling behind, all single-seater combat boats can only circle the battleship in an eccentric circle.Because the battleship is in a state of continuous acceleration, if you do not care about maneuvering, then once you fall behind, even if the opponent does not kill you, you will die of thirst and starvation because you cannot catch up with the large fleet.And those UFPs that are not good at acceleration are even more uncomfortable.These pilots even use ropes woven from nanotubes to connect their own battleships, and even stand directly on the outer armor of the battleship, and use the heavy particle cannon in their hands to shoot at the death gods who are rushing over.

But the number of single-seat battleships galloping over is small after all, and these battleships have too many charged particle cannons, almost like intertwined optical networks.In addition, the opponent is dispatched by UFP and a single-seater combat boat, and the number is more than double that of his own.

This kind of battle inevitably slipped into a war of attrition from the very beginning.

In this case, the psychological state of the pilots of the single-seat combat boats in the space circle fleet is easy to understand.

They need a break, a break that will allow them to relax.Not the kind of nap that still fits in a spacesuit.

It was based on this situation that General Nakajima began to continue to suggest to General Collintz that even if the entire ship cannot be oxygenated, at least a few cabins should be opened for the pilots to rest normally, and for them to wash their clothes. A place for a hot shower.

"Okay. But I request that these cabins can't be open all day, they must be opened by time-sharing. After all, we are still at war!" Maybe he was knocked down by reality, and the stubborn and stubborn Collins finally returned. He agreed to General Nakajima's request.Although there are still a lot of additional conditions, it can finally relieve people's hard work these days.

But this is only one aspect of various difficulties, there is another more head-scratching thing waiting for the people of the fleet.

According to General Nakajima's calculations, the working fluid of the entire large fleet has begun to approach the cordon.

"After ten consecutive days of full-power acceleration, the outer working medium water of each battleship has been reduced to 30.00%. If we continue to pursue at high speed like this, in order to ensure the heat dissipation inside the entire battleship, we have to use the outer layer to When the remaining 15.00% of the working medium water starts to use the internal circulating water, I am afraid that there will be problems with the fresh water supply of the entire fleet.”

Human beings cannot live without water, at least not now.This is a very tricky question.

General Collins tapped his fingers lightly on the surface of the console, thinking about the problem.

"How much water reserves are left on our combat pre-positioned ships."

"If we replenish it now, we can replenish it to 50.00%. But if we continue to chase at this speed, we won't be able to last for seven days." General Nakajima continued to report in a slightly hoarse voice.

"Your Excellency, we have to find a way to get water."

(End of this chapter)